Water Works Theatre

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2020 Season Auditions

Audition for Shakespeare Royal Oak’s 2020 Season! Go >

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, directed by Terry Carpenter.
Performance dates run Thursdays through Sundays, July 30 through August 9. Rehearsals begin approximately June 26th.

AUDITION DATES: Monday, March 2, 5pm to 9pm, and Monday, March 9, 5pm to 9pm. Possible callbacks Monday March 16, 5pm to 9pm.

AUDITION PLACE: St John’s Episcopal Church, 26998 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48067.

Schedule Your Audition

Main Stage Show

Shakespeare Royal Oak’s 2020 season will feature A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is one of Shakespeare’s most popular works, a comic fantasy of lovers bewitched by fairies.

Videos from the 2019 season:

All of our 2019 videos are available on our YouTube channel >

See videos, photos and more from our past seasons >

Education

KidsACT logo 4C     

Water Works Theatre Company is pleased to announce that Patrick Hanley will continue in the role of Director of Education for KidsAct! and Water Works Teen Ensemble. More >

Support

There are many ways to support Water Works Theatre Company. You can advertise in our program, volunteer your time or expertise, become a sponsor or make a financial donation. It all ensures that this community jewel continues. Find out how you can help >

DONATE

About

Learn more about Water Works Theatre Company: our beginnings, our passion and our future. Tell me the story >

 

FAQs

Have questions about your Shakespeare Royal Oak experience? We have the answers. Get the FAQs >

Ways to Support Water Works Theatre

Best Kept Secret

Some say Water Works is the area’s best kept cultural secret. But the truth is that since 2001 Water Works has presented the biggest and best outdoor professional Shakespeare festival in Michigan. We’re proud to say that we have inspired many other groups to pop up around the state, and we encourage their legacy.  Yet we still offer your family the highest quality, affordable cultural experience anywhere.  From our friendly atmosphere and first rate performances, to our top-notch education programs, we guarantee you will love your time in the park with us.

Help Us This Year

It’s all close to home in a beautiful park in two perfect midsummer weeks. But we need YOU to help keep the dream alive. Think about it: when you go to Stratford, see a Broadway play or even a touring show downtown, you will easily spend more than double Water Works’ ticket prices. Not to mention all the travel, dining and parking.

We’re asking you to help us make up the difference between what we charge our audience, and what it really takes to do it right.

Spread the Word!

  • Recommend us to your company for sponsorship
  • Bring a group to the show. Call 248.399.3727 if your group is ten (10) or more!
  • Make a tax deductible donation.
  • Promote us on Facebook and other social media.
  • Please help this wonderful local jewel of the arts. Together we can make this our biggest and best year ever! Thank you!

Advertise!

Reach over 3,000 sophisticated patrons by advertising with us.  Full, half and quarter page ads are available now. Click here to email us a request for more information and rates.

Volunteer!

Caught the bug? Water Works puts interns and community-minded volunteers to work and they enjoy the fun too. From marketing, signage, hospitality to ushering and even backstage jobs, we have it all. Let us know what area interests you, and we’ll find a fit! Just send us an e-mail and we’ll get back to you!

Sponsorship Opportunities

For two weeks in the park, Water Works expects to impact 3500+ patrons to our ticketed theatre events. Over 50 professional artists and teachers are employed, and 80 to 100 local families enjoy the excitement of our outdoor education programs. Each year we also offer growth opportunities for 6 interns beyond high school.

While Water Works collects audience feedback to measure satisfaction and assist us in our future programming decisions, we do not directly solicit age and address information from our patrons. Our experience since 2001 has shown us, however, that our audience is culturally diverse, generally with (or pursuing) higher education, geographically central to Royal Oak, with high awareness of the arts and appreciation for community quality of life issues.  We see significant long term loyalty in our audiences, and in families in our education programs.  For most of those who come to be entertained, to be educated, or to work at their craft here, Shakespeare in the Park in Royal Oak has become a valued annual tradition.

Share Water Works’ commitment to keeping professional Shakespeare in this community by financially sponsoring our production. Please contact Water Works Theatre Company at 248.399.3727 or email us for sponsorships of $500.00 or more. We want to make the most of your support. Thank you!

Donate!

Online donations are gratefully accepted. Please also contact Water Works Theatre Company at 248.399.3727 or email us for donation information.

About Water Works Theatre and Shakespeare in the Park

A slow summer sunset glows across a stage, tucked among tall trees. You’re sitting comfortably on the grass with special friends, as the area’s best professional actors open up the magic of Shakespeare’s genius just for you, under the open sky. By the final bow you’ll be on your feet applauding this unique, affordable and amazing experience that the people of Water Works Theatre Company have shared with you under the summer stars.

And as you stroll out of the park by candlelight, your heart will feel the sweetness of the fleeting season, and wish it would never end. I’m not exaggerating. Each one of Water Works shows has been as special as a jewel.

Then there are the kids. When you see their excited smiles and hear them speak a soliloquy for the first time, or stage a sword fight, or improv a scene, you’ll swear they shine brighter than they ever have.

Bring your family and friends to enjoy this year’s performances as we continue making jewels in the park.

Thank you,

Ed Nahhat
Founder and Chair
Water Works Theatre Company

 

 

 

 

 

Our History

Since 2001, Water Works Theatre Company has offered the wonderful work of the Bard with Michigan’s best professional and emerging professional artists, in a one-of-a-kind outdoor summer setting. It began as a mid-winter dream and emerged that first August as a moonlit magical moment destined to fill a cultural niche so important to the quality of life in the community.  In 2002, Water Works also began to fill an educational niche by offering professional Shakespeare performance training to K through 8th grade students that is not available anywhere else, at the reasonable price and convenient location offered here. In 2009, we began presenting a second “daylight family show” in rotation with our main Shakespeare play. In 2010 we began Water Works Academy that offered high school students the chance to create their own Shakespeare-based show on our stage.

Through the years, Water Works has entertained thousands, and employed hundreds of local artists, many of whom have gone on to succeed in theater, television and film. Also, many of our hundreds of students have gone on to study the craft in college. Some have even returned to us as adults.

Water Works has received many accolades from community and state leaders, and has garnered its fair share of artistic awards, too. Most importantly, Water Works continues to create a sustaining movement of artistic and community excellence, thanks to our patrons and sponsors.